Tehran
Trip Start
Apr 11, 2006
1
8
39
Trip End
Sep 14, 2006
Tehran,
Iran
Monday, April 24, 2006
Tehran is very busy and extremely polluted. The air was actually OK, but the noise, the visual pollution where out of this world! Walking on the streets of the Iranian capital is actually one of the most dangerous things I have done in my life. I could write a whole chapter about the traffic here.
The main rules are: the sidewalk is first for motorbikes, then bicycles and if there is any space left, for pedestrians; there are no determined lanes; cars stop anytime, anywhere; seat belts are only used when the driver sees a police car and pretends to have buckled up; there are no pedestrian crossings and not many drivers respect the red light. Motorbikes do not seem to follow any rules whatsoever; they go in any direction. So, crossing the streets proved to be a challenge. You must consider that I am Brazilian and quite used to hectic traffic + crossing the streets where there is no pedestrian crossing, but in Iran it is a real adventure! You have to be courageous and just go - walk across a busy street in the middle of the passing cars and motorcycles! The funny thing is that it all seems to work pretty well; I believe the drivers here develop a higher awareness of pedestrians crossing the street and tend to swerve and avoid them with success
A Man & his shop in the Bazaar
. In a way it felt like being in a video game with real close encounter with danger.The noise is deafening: all drivers tend to honk the horn in order to signalize where they are going - they have too, since now one can predict their actions. Anything goes. I even saw a car driving on the sidewalk once!! Very stressful for the poor pedestrians!
Tehran is not a beautiful city, but it has wonderful museums.
I felt very excited about visiting the Carpet Museum, even though the variety of carpets was less comprehensive than I expected. The best surprise was the Museum of Contemporary Art, where I saw an interesting exhibition of Iranian Art.
At the Carpet Museum I met two young Tehranians and ended up spending a wonderful time with them: going to museums, cafes and even a birthday party. Shahin and Nima were one of the highlights of my stay in Tehran. Thanks guys!
Comments
¡Me muero de envidia!
Amor de mi vida, ¿cómo estás? Ya veo que super bien. Me muero de envidia de tus aventuras, tus experiencias, de conocer a la gente que te está tocando y de ver estos paisages que fotografeas maravillosamente. ¡Qué interesante todo lo que narras y vives allá!